Archive - June 2011

As the live export impasse moves into its fourth week, there's concern that Indonesia is preparing to reduce its reliance on Australian cattle. The Agriculture Minister, Joe Ludwig, held talks with his opposite in Jakarta and would have been let in on, no doubt, how seriously the Indonesians regard the sudden suspension of the beef trade. At the same time, South Australian independent Senator Nick Xenophon was introducing a private members bill to Federal Parliament to phase out the trade altogether.

After promising a national food plan during last year's election, this week the Federal Government gave a glimpse of what might be in it, with the release of an issues paper. There are a lot of issues to consider when trying to work out how to double food production by 2050 to meet global demands, while also protecting fragile resources. Experts say Australia could be a leader in securing global food supplies, however, there are also warnings that the country is not immune from a global food crisis.

As sowing continues in many parts of the country, extra stubble from last year's heavy rains and bumper crops is proving a challenge for farmers. While some have resorted to burning, light till equipment is also getting a workout. As Kerry Staight reports, one of the most sought after machines comes from a South Australian farming family that has built up a major export business through hard work and hardship.

Having rebounded from a decade long drought with a big crop and brimming water storages, you'd think it would be full steam ahead for Australia's rice industry. However, there are simmering tensions that threaten to boilover. The drought left Sun Rice, the grower-owned rice company, under a mountain of debt. Yet shareholders rejected a sell-out to a multinational food giant. This week, Sun Rice CEO Gary Helou resigned and now some growers are threatening to form a breakaway body.

The robust debate about the suspension of the live cattle trade has stretched all the way from Jakarta to Canberra via the beef producers. The biggest issue right now is what to do with cattle that no longer have a clear destination or meet local market specifications. They need to be fed, watered and trucked from export depots back to where they came from or to agistment. It's going to cost millions of dollars and no-one's sure who will end up picking up the compensation bill.

Calls have been made to allow farmers to store more carbon in the soil, which would help them contribute to the reduction of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. The carbon farming initiative before Federal Parliament will let farmers sell carbon credits if they can show they've stored extra carbon in their soils. As Chris Clark reports, before farmers can do that, there needs to be an accurate way of measuring soil carbon across the country.

Most Australian farmers would have strong views on this week's live cattle developments but for one family enterprise in central Australia, it's personal. Suplejack Downs is remote even by Northern Territory standards. In an era of consolidation and corporatisation, the Cooks have kept it in the family for three generations. As Prue Adams reports, beef is their mainstay and in recent years live exports have helped them through some very tough times.

In last week's show we told you about the Carbon Farming Initiative, a Federal Government plan to give farmers credits for cutting greenhouse gas emissions or storing carbon. The legislation's due to be debated in Federal Parliament this week. If the idea is to work in practice, then it has to be based on accurate measurements and as Chris Clark explains, there's a huge amount of research being done to quantify what's happening on farms and how emissions from agriculture might be cut.

There's been a swift and angry response to revelations about the appalling treatment of Australian cattle at some Indonesian abattoirs. They were contained in an expose this week on the trade to our biggest live export market on the ABC's Four Corners program. No one with a genuine interest in animal welfare inside or outside the beef industry has condoned the cruelty of cattle exported from Northern Australia. Kerry Lonergan talks to Meat and Livestock Australia Chairman Don Heatley.

Three-quarters of Australia's banana crop was destroyed when Cyclone Yasi hit far north Queensland in February. For growers in Tully and Innisfail it was a doubly cruel blow, as many were wiped out 5 years earlier by Cyclone Larry and while their trees had recovered, their finances hadn't. The recovery process is just over halfway now, with the first bananas from the ruined plantations expected to be harvested at the end of July.

Australia's quarter horse fraternity is about to take a giant leap into the unknown with some controversial new breeding technology. Tamworth breeder Richard Bull has imported a stallion that's one of five clones of America's top sporting quarter horse stallion. The legendary Smart Little Lena died last year, however, the super stallion's genes will live on in Australia through his cloned son, appropriately named Salute.

While the government struggles to negotiate a price on carbon, Federal lawmakers are also considering another piece of the global warming puzzle. It's called the carbon farming initiative and it's meant to give farmers and others a way of making money out of cutting greenhouse emissions.